


Jar of Mixed Feelings

by SleepingInTheMeadow



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26228431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepingInTheMeadow/pseuds/SleepingInTheMeadow
Summary: Emma is lost in the town of Storybrooke, not sure what to do now that she’s met her son, decided she wanted to stay with him, but consequently got kicked out of the inn. Ruby Lucas is there to help her settle into the town, and steals Emma’s heart while she’s at it.
Relationships: Red Riding Hood | Ruby/Emma Swan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Jar of Mixed Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> New RedSwan story alert! I really need to finish off my WIPs, but I already finished a few, so I’ll do this one! This is a birthday gift for Mione03, and I’ve had this prompt for a while, so here we go! Sorry it’s so late, but I’ve not been in a great place and I’m sorry for the effect it’s had on my writing schedule/quality. I’ll jump back into it soon, I just need some time to get there. :) Please send feedback, stay safe, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> *loosely based on s1: ep2, but still with the curse.*

Emma had never felt so detached. Even in her years of foster care, she’s always had something that reminded her of home; at least her loose definition of it. Currently, she didn’t have anything, except for the baby blanket she’s always had, but that had lost some of its meaningfulness some time ago when she grew up.

Having her son around should make her feel less out-of-place, but it didn’t. It just reminded her of how much she’s missed over the last ten years. Even still, feeling detached in the quiet town of Storybrooke is better than calling a dumpster in the worst neighbourhood in Boston ‘home.’ At least she wasn’t missing the loneliness of Boston. For a small town, there seemed to be so many interesting people. Henry, the small, quiet schoolteacher, that creepy old pawnshop owner Emma couldn’t remember the name of, Granny, and of course, the waitress from the diner. She was just so intriguing, but bubbly and kind, and honestly, kind of adorable. It had taken a lot of willpower for Emma to stop watching her make coffee behind the cash register.

It had been a week since Emma first started staying in Storybrooke, but it felt like forever. People greeted her like she was their neighbour, hence Emma’s feeling of detachment.

She’s jumped between houses, cities, and states many times in her years of foster care, and none of the places she’s stayed at made her feel so at home, yet somehow still on the outside of the town’s community, looking in. Maybe it was the fact that the entire town was so welcoming to her, except for the mayor’s passive-aggressive (or just plain aggressive) attempts to run Emma away from Henry. They haven’t worked. In fact, Emma thinks Regina’s possessive behaviour makes her want to stay longer, just to piss her off a bit more and be there for Henry.

She had barely thought about Henry since she gave birth to him, and forgot he existed for a while until he showed up. Suddenly, after knowing him and talking to him, she quickly grew attached to him, and finally realized she had a son. It’s a lot to think about after nearly her entire life was spent alone.

This little excursion of hers wasn’t all bad though. She met the cute waitress, finally got to change her old tires after her accident with the town sign and got to know her son a little bit better. Of course, she also totalled her car, got arrested for drunk driving and stealing her son’s files from therapy, made a fool out of herself, and was now eating cold pizza in her car on a Wednesday night, going through how much cash she has left and how much space she’ll need to curl up in the backseat of her bug without digging a snowbrush into her back. Detached, but still like home.

Emma sighed to herself and continued shuffling papers under the seats so she had enough room to lie on the floor. She was just trying to find a duffel bag or a jacket to use as a pillow when a knock on the windshield startled her upright. The cute waitress was smiling at her, gesturing for Emma to roll the window down. She cranked the lever to lower the window and smiled back.

“Hi,” the girl said.

“Hey. Do you need something?”

“No, I was just wondering what you were doing. It’s almost ten at night.”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I was cleaning up at the diner,” she said.

“Well, I’m about to go to sleep in a bit, I’m just finishing off my dinner.”

“Sleep? In your car?”

“Granny kicked me out of the inn, remember?” Emma smiled weakly as the girl seemed to look her up and down.

“You can stay with me in my apartment for a while.”

“Oh. That’s really not necessary, I’ve slept in my car before. Thank you for the offer, though.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer,” she said boldly. “I’m not letting anyone sleep on the floor of their car with a leather jacket as a blanket, if I can help it.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need anyone’s help. I’ve survived on my own all my life, this is no different.” The girl looked at Emma sympathetically, then frowned.

“Just one night. Then if you want, you can sleep in your car for the rest of your life. It’s your choice, but please, just one night.” Emma couldn’t argue with her reasoning, plus, she would normally give anything to stay the night at a cute girl’s house. “I have a spare bedroom, you won’t sleep on the floor or on a couch.”

Emma gave her car a look around.

“Only if your place is cleaner than my car.”

“Don’t worry, it’s spotless.” She gave Emma a gleaming smile, the moonlight reflected off her pearly whites.

“Deal.”

“Great. I’m Ruby. And you are..?”

“Emma. Emma Swan.”

“Right! Henry’s biological mom.”

“You’ve heard about me?”

“Everyone’s heard about you. Especially with that article about you in the paper and the way Henry talks about you.”

“Oh yeah, right.”

“Anyways, my place is just a block from here. I’ll get in my car, you follow.” Emma nodded affirmatively and started her car, cold pizza and leather jacket-pillow forgotten on the floor.

The red Camaro she was following stopped in front of an old, grey apartment building. It didn’t look as appealing to the eye as other buildings in the town did, but Emma knew she would be lucky to live in an apartment like that.

The building was only four stories, but had nice-looking balconies connected to each window.

“It’s not the greatest-looking,” Ruby said, “but this is as much as a waitress’s salary can get me.” Emma nodded understandingly.

“It looks nice.”

“I promise it looks better on the inside.” Emma chuckled lightly and followed Ruby into the building. The inside was much more immaculate on the inside, except for the elevator being out of order.”

“I only live on the second floor, it won’t be as much of a walk,” Ruby answered helpfully. Emma flashed her a small smile and trekked on with her.

Once they got to the door, Ruby stopped and dug around for a key.

“Do you not have luggage?”

“Nope.”

“No change of clothes?”

“Just the few things lying around my car, and two pairs of jeans I bought from the supermarket.”

“That won’t do at all! You can borrow anything from my closet, then I can take you shopping.” Emma didn’t answer, just shuffled her feet on the red carpet. “If you end up staying, that is.” Ruby shoved the door open and tossed her keys onto a table near the couch

“Make yourself at home. I’ll start dinner in a minute.”

“I already ate.”

“Okay. You’re welcome to some if you get hungry.” Ruby ambled around the apartment, getting changed into more comfortable clothes and starting dinner. Emma tentatively sat on the brown leather couch, having nothing to do but shyly watch on as Ruby made dinner for herself, bite her lip and wonder if she made the right choice, and fidget with her hands.

“Does poutine sound okay?”

“What is that?”

“You’ve never heard of poutine?” Emma shook her head. “I read about it in a travel blog once. It’s supposed to be a food from Canada. You put gravy and cheese on french fries. I haven’t heard of it until this morning, but I wanted to try it.”

“You like to travel?”

“I _love_ it. I’ve read more travel blogs than I could count.”

“Have you ever travelled yourself?”

“No. I’m stuck in this hell-hole.”

“I don’t think it’s so bad,” Emma said. “There are many interesting people around here.” Ruby grinned cryptically.

“There are.” A silence filled the apartment as Ruby dished up her poutine. Emma grabbed a small helping of the food, interested to try it and never too full to turn down more food. Ruby flipped on the television to some T.V. show.

“So where do you want to travel?”

“Everywhere. Have you travelled before?”

“Well, I went to Mexico for a day, and I’ve seen a lot of places on T.V..”

“What was Mexico like? What did you do?”

“The parts I saw of it were beautiful, but I didn’t get much time for sightseeing. I drove by this really pretty beach though, the water was crystal clear.” Ruby looked like she was going to explode with happiness and spread a barrage of kittens and rainbows and anything happy all over the room.

“Really? Did you see any fish?”

“No, but I did see a few orcas when I was in Alaska.” Ruby looked awestruck, then rolled up the bottom hem of her shirt to reveal an orca tattoo on her ribs. Emma smiled at the irony.

“Was it pretty?”

“It was beautiful. I didn’t get to go swimming with them, but I got to admire them from afar.” Ruby grinned. “Anything else?”

That’s how Emma stayed up until 1 in the morning explaining to Ruby how she got treated with anti-venom after she had a nasty run-in with a Cottonmouth. The entire time, Ruby’s eyes got bigger and glossier, further making Emma think her friend would combust in a few short seconds.

“That’s so cool!” Ruby gushed.

“It didn’t _feel_ cool,” Emma said, chuckling. Ruby laughed.

“I should probably let you get to sleep now.” Emma nodded.

“Goodnight, Ruby. Thank you for letting me stay.”

“My pleasure,” she said, smiling softly to herself. Emma turned back around and stood up, noticing the plate of fries and gravy she left untouched in her storytelling. Never before has Emma forgotten about food. She smiled as she politely put the dish at the sink, scraping the leftovers into the compost bin Ruby kept, then went off in the direction of the guest bedroom Ruby pointed out earlier. Very slowly, Emma felt her feelings of abandonment become less prominent than they had in a long time. Maybe she could make a home out of this unexpected predicament. Maybe she could be there for her son, and hopefully, her new friend. Emma could feel the hints of a smile upturn her lips as she crawled under the covers.


End file.
